Presser foot adjusting device



A. P. STEINER Sept. 7, 1965 PRESSER FOOT ADJUSTING DEVICE Filed D60. 19, 1962 I. l v. r

Fig.3.

INVEN TOR. ADAM P. STEINER WITNESS United States Patent 3,204,593 PRESSER F001 ADJUSTENG DEVECE Adam P. Steiner, Union, NJL, assignor to The Singer 'Company, a corporation of New Llersey Filed Dec. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 245,768 1 Claim. (C1, 112240) This invention relates to sewing machines and, more particularly, to means for attaching a presser foot to the presser bar of such a machine.

Many sewing machine operations require that a particular type of presser foot be employed. The versatility of any sewing machine is therefore limited :by the number of presser feet it can utilize. ()ften a sewing machine cannot make use of .a particular presser foot because the presser foot is not the proper dimensions necessary to cooperate with a sewing needle. A presser foot may not be suitable for use with a particular sewing machine if it was made for another machine. Sometimes the presser foot is distorted by hard use or mistreatment.

It is, therefore, desirable that a sewing machine be provided with a feature whereby a newly attached presser foot may be aligned with the sewing needle. One way to compensate for dimensional difierences in presser feet is to adjust their position relatively to the presser bar.

It is an object of this invention to provide novel, quick, and easy means of attaching a presser foot to a presser bar so that the presser foot may be adjusted relatively to the presser bar and sewing needle.

It is another object of this invention to provide novel means of attaching a presser foot to a presser bar using structure which can easily and economically be manu factnred and at the same time is simple, efiective and durable.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from an understanding of this disclosure, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts which are hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a portion of a sewing machine having one embodiment of the present invention, incorporated therein.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary rear view partly in section taken substantially on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view partly in section taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of elements shown in FIGS. 1 3.

FIGS. 1-4 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention as associated with a sewing machine I having a head 2, a presser bar 3, a presser bar lifter 4, a work supporting plate 5, a throat plate 6, a feed bar 7 and a feed dog 8. The feed dog advances the work 9 past a sewing needle 11 to form stitches in the usual manner.

The lower end of the presser bar 3 is provided with a longitudinally extending open ended hollow bore 12, thereby causing the lower end of the presser bar 3 to be in the form of a hollow tube having a side wall 13. The Wall 13 is provided with an aperture 14 at a location adjacent to the lower end of the presser bar 3. The aperture 14 is elliptical, the major axis lying in a plane which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the presser bar. The lower end of the presser bar 3 terminates at an abutment surface 15.

A more or less conventional presser foot .16, which has a sole plate 17 and a shank 18, is attached to the lower end of the presser bar by means of a presser bar foot seat, indicated generally by the numeral 19. The foot seat is elongated in form and its upper end is bifurcated, as at 21, thereby providing the upper end of the foot seat with an upstanding projection consisting of tines 22 and 23 between which is a slot 24. The lower end of the slot 24 terminates at 21. The upper end of the foot seat 19 is reduced in cross-sectional area, thereby forming a shoulder 25. The tine 22 is slabbed on the side that is remote from the slot 24 and is adapted to accommodate a screw 26. The screw 26 is threaded through the tine 22 and abuts the tine 23 so that when the screw is tightened it exerts a force which acts on both tines and tends to push them apart.

The lower end of the foot seat 19 is formed with a threaded hole 27 through which passes a fastening screw 28. The fastening screw 28 secures the presser foot 16 to the foot seat 19.

In operation the tines 22 and 23 are inserted into the bore 12. Thereafter the foot seat 19 is elevated until the shoulder 25 abuts the surface 15. A presser foot is then secured to the foot seat 19. The foot seat 19 and presser foot 16 may then be rotated in order properly to align the presser foot 16 with the sewing needle 11. When the presser foot and sewing needle are properly aligned the screw 26 is accessible through the aperture 14. The screw is then tightened to exert a force on the tines which separate them until they engage the inner surface of the side wall 13. The screw 26 is further tightened so that the force pushes the tines against the side wall to secure the foot seat to the presser bar.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention what I claim is:

In a sewing machine, the combination of an open ended hollow presser bar with a side wall, an aperture formed in said side wall and an abutment surface, a foot seat bifurcated to provide separate tines, said foot seat including a shoulder and a projection and an adjusting screw threaded through one of said tines and abutting the other of said tines, said projection being adapted to be inserted in said open end to a position where said shoulder abuts said surface and said adjusting screw is accessible through said aperture to be turned so that said tines are forced against said side wall to prevent rotation of said foot seat relatively to said presser bar, and a presser foot releasably secured to said foot seat.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 145,823 12/73 Weber 112-240 394,966 12/88 Griest 1 l2257 454,952 6/91 Talbot et al 112240 X 1,209,928 12/16 Becker 112-240 1,401,466 12/21 De Voe 112-226 1,891,048 12/32 Keefe 278124 X 2,297,167 9/42 Robinson et al 287124 2,985,127 5/61 Reeber et al 112-240 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner. 

